Megan Jones and the Flying Incident
by yellow 14
Summary: Megan Jones is afraid of flying. Not much of a phobia, except when your cousin is a professional Quidditch player who thinks you SHOULDN'T be afraid. Written for the Unknown Character Competition by Brazensers.


Disclaimer: I you recognise it, I don't own.

AN: This is written for the Unknown Character Competition by Brazensers. My character is Megan Jones.

There were times, Megan thought to herself, that she would rather not be related to her older, more sophisticated and much more confident cousin Gwenog. Sure it was fun to get tickets to all of the Holyhead Harpies games and Gwen could inspire people and talk animatedly for hours at a time to anyone about almost any subject in the world. As long as that subject was Quidditch or Quidditch related of course, she didn't become Captain and the best player in the Holyhead Harpies without serious dedication. (Or as Megan called it, insanity and/or stupidity)

It didn't help that the two of them looked so different that few people believed they were actually related. Gwenog was tall, broad and sturdy, while Megan was short and stumpy. Gwenog was dark, a result of her mixed race heritage, a black American mother and a white English father, with short black hair that was cut into a pudding-bowl shape. Megan had long brown hair that she kept in a neat ponytail and she burnt easily in the sun.

One of the best reasons occurred at the end of Megan's first year at Hogwarts. It had all began with Gwenog bragging about her last Quidditch match while they ate dinner in the dining room, in a distinctly average country cottage and Megan was, for want of a better word, bored out of her mind. Especially as she had watched said match in person. When suddenly, Gwenog turned and asked her.

"So how are you on a broom? I bet you're virtually good enough for the Quidditch team!" she said excitedly and Megan turned red with embarrassment. "I refuse to believe that someone related to me isn't a good flyer."

"Well…"

"Actually, I have a better idea! Why don't you SHOW us how good you are! I'll even let you borrow my broom," Gwenog continued, not noticing Megan's expression of pure horror at the idea.

"We-"

"Come on cousin, I want to see if your raw potential as a flyer," Gwenog continued excitedly as she grabbed Megan by the hand and dragged her out into the garden. "Here's my broom, lets see what you can do with it!"

Megan looked dubiously at the broom and swallowed hard. The idea of actually flying it was laughable in her opinion. Who in their right mind would be stupid enough to trust their life in the hands of a thin piece of wood flying high above the ground?

"Well…um…well I'm afraid of flying," she mumbled and Gwenog raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"You're afraid of flying?" she asked incredulously, disbelief etched across her face and Megan nodded.

"That's okay dear, I'm sure your cousin didn't intend to embarrass you," Megan's mother said kindly with a smile, but her cousin simply frowned.

"You just haven't had the right experiences with flying yet!" she said with a snort. "Those Hogwarts brooms don't really give you the right feel for just how wonderful flying can be!"

"Wa-" Megan started, a look of fear on her face, but her cousin grabbed her and pulled her onto the broom and with a kick against the ground, the two of them were sent flying into the sky.

"Isn't it wonderful, the feeling of the wind in your face as you go faster and faster?" Gwenog asked excitedly, her face clearly alight with happiness. Megan didn't seem to notice, gripping the broom so tightly that it was a wonder it didn't snap in her hands.

"Yes, yes, it's wonderful," Megan squeaked, hoping that her cousin would be satisfied with that and just land, but her cousin looked at her dubiously.

"Oh you haven't seen anything yet," Gwenog said with a gleam in her eye that, had Megan been looking at her, signalled trouble. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) Megan wasn't looking at her cousin at all. Diving sharply at an almost ninety degree angle, Gwenog allowed the broom to build up speed before, less than a foot from the ground, she suddenly pulled sharply out of her dive and spun the broom upwards with a twist and pulling into a sharp slow roll over the house.

"Please let me live, please let me live, please let me live," Megan prayed under her breath, desperately praying that her cousin was done with aerobatics, but it turned out to be a futile hope. Instead, Gwenog pulled the broom into a loop the loop manoeuvre, followed by a sharp split-s and she finished with a slow roll that absolutely terrified Megan.

"Can you feel it Megan?" Gwenog asked, clearly oblivious to her cousin's discomfort. "Don't you just love the feeling of sheer freedom, the excitement of pushing the limits of broomstick capability and more?"

Megan said nothing. The only thing she was feeling was sheer, mind-numbing terror and the strong urge to be sick. Her eyes were wide open with fear and she was holding onto the broom so tightly that it was a wonder she didn't break it. So while Gwenog talked on and on about the pleasures of flying, Megan just looked on at the sky with a feeling of such extreme fear that a trickle of liquid had made its way down her leg.

"There, wasn't that fun?" Gwenog exclaimed as they landed and she jumped off with practised ease. Megan simply kept hold of the broom. She was so scared that she couldn't force her fingers apart, gripping the broomstick like her life depended on it. Gwenog stepped closer and asked "What's wrong with her? Does she want another go?"

"I don't know," Megan's mother said as she looked uncertainly at her daughter. "She looks a bit pale."

"It's just the excitement," Gwenog said with a shrug and she gave Megan a light punch on the shoulder. "You're thinking of going up on your own to do-"

Gwenog's little speech was sharply interrupted when Megan shakily stood up and without any warning suddenly vomited all over Gwenog's robes.

"I'm sorry," Megan whispered as her cousin glared at her in disgust and anger. "I didn't me-"

"LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE!" Gwenog screamed. "THESE ARE ROBES OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY AND YOU JUST THREW UP ON THEM! AND AFTER I TREATED YOU TO A FLIGHT AS WELL! YOU ARE NOT RELATED TO ME!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" Megan's voice slipped away as she saw her cousin storm out of the house and with a pop, she apparatted away.

"Well that was a shame," her mother said sadly. "But I'm sure she'll get over it. After all, it's not like you did it on purpose exactly?" Megan said nothing and her mother continued. "And it wasn't fair of her to take you up and put you through all those manoeuvres, especially when you told her you were scared of flying."

"I didn't ask her to," Megan whispered with a degree of uncertainty, still feeling a little queasy. "I just-"

"I know, I know," her mother said kindly as she patted Megan kindly on the shoulder. "And I wouldn't have let her take you up if I thought she was going to do that."

Later that day, Tracy Davies received a letter from her best friend Megan informing her that her plan had worked perfectly.


End file.
